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Smart Growth America's top 12 of 2012: Honoring leaders in the field

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From left to right: Managing Director of LOCUS, Christopher Coes; Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO); Senator Mark Warner (D-VA); President of LOCUS, Chris Leinberger; President and CEO of Smart Growth America, Geoff Anderson.

For the next two weeks, we’ll be doing a special blog series highlighting some of Smart Growth America’s favorite accomplishments from 2012. This is the first of twelve that we’ll be rolling out, so keep an eye out for a new one every day!

In February, we presented Smart Growth America’s 2012 Leadership Award to Darrell Steinberg. Steinberg, California State Senate President Pro Tem, received the award for his incredible efforts in championing and helping to pass SB 375, legislation that integrates greenhouse gas reduction goals into California’s existing regional transportation planning process, and encourages planners to locate homes near jobs and create more transportation options. The bill not only fights climate change but also gives towns across the state the power to make land use and transportation decisions that strengthen local economies, reduce sprawl, preserve farmland and spur business development, furthering the cause of smart growth in California and setting an example for states across the nation.

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Spotlight on Sustainability: Tampa, FL uses new technologies to chart a new direction for the city

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A downtown Tampa streetcar. Photo courtesy of Flickr user Willamor Media.

Leaders in Tampa, Florida are working to reverse the sprawl that has left their downtown area sparsely populated and stifled economic development. A Community Challenge Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is aimed to help make it happen.

The city’s planning efforts, organized under the banner of InVision Tampa, aim to create a vision plan for a downtown core, a transit corridor plan to increase transportation choices in the region, and update the city’s building codes. Each of these are designed to stimulate downtown Tampa’s residential, business, and retail economy, and set the entire city on a course for a better future.

“We are hoping to change the entire face of our urban core. Our urban core is quite a bit like other aging cities. Suburbanization and forces over 50 years have pushed people out,” says Randy Goers, Urban Planning Coordinator and Project Manager for InVision Tampa. “Over the next 15 years, we want to remake the urban core and create a dense, diverse, populated area.”

While Tampa, like many cities, has always had a central business district that composed its downtown, it was not until the 1980s that any residential development was put in place. The city is seeking to jumpstart residential downtown activity, identifying spots along the river as opportunities for redevelopment.

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Upcoming Webinars: December 2012

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Tuesday, December 11, 2:00-4:00pm ET. EPA Webcast for Tribes: Learning from Peers – Tribal Approaches to Reduce GHG Emissions and Address the Changing Climate. Register here.

Wednesday, December 12, 3:00-4:30pm ET. The Innovative DOT. Register here.

Tuesday, December 11, 2:00-3:15pm ET. EPA’s Priorities for Petroleum Brownfields. Register here.

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Lessons learned in Louisville: a common vision for Complete Streets

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A page from the Louisville Metro Streetscape Design Manual.

The following is a guest post by National Complete Streets Coalition partners Jonathan D. Henney, AICP, ASLA and Mike Sewell, P.E., of Gresham, Smith and Partners.

In 2006, just as the Complete Streets movement was gaining momentum, Gresham Smith and Partners (GS&P) put together a Complete Streets Design Manual for the City of Louisville Metro Planning and Design Services Department. The manual offered practical guidelines for using Complete Streets principles within urban, suburban, rural, residential and commercial streetscapes.

At first, the Complete Streets Manual existed mostly as theory, providing universal language for unbuilt projects. Today, it exists as a living language across the city, visible in a diverse range of Complete Streets projects, each testifying to commonly held guidelines. That jump from theory to practice was far from automatic, and other cities can learn from Louisville’s trajectory.

Complete Streets

HUD's Sustainable Communities grants are helping communities – and getting an impressive return on investment

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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities (OSHC) has already helped hundreds of towns and cities across the country become economically stronger, environmentally sustainable, and more inclusive through its workshops, technical resources and grant programs. As a new report explains, these programs are also making the most of federal investments.

OSHC’s 2011 accomplishments update explains that the Office’s 152 grants in 48 states, totaling $240 million, generated almost $253 million in private investments and commitments from local partners. The Sustainable Communities grants, one of the major grant programs administered by the Office, generated $115 million in matching and in-kind contributions – more than 120% of the original $95.8 million invested.

The Office’s accomplishments report is a compendium of some of the most interesting smart growth projects in the works today.

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Partnership in the News: Granite State Future ramps up community engagement outreach

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Nine of New Hampshire’s planning commissions coordinated together to apply for a Regional Planning grant from the U.S. Office of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). They won a $3.37 million grant to coordinate their planning efforts for the state’s future, forming Granite State Future.

One of the first truly state-wide planning efforts, Granite State represents the desire for people across the state to work together to solve regional issues and ensure economic vitality and a better quality of life for all. Part of the effort involves a robust online community engagement effort.

“The foundation of this plan is what people want in their communities,” says project manager Jeff Belanger, “We want all views represented.”

The next step for the project is to put together their online data and proceed to public meetings to present ideas before communities across the state. They hope to be finished before the grant ends in 2015.

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Local Leaders Council Advisory Board Member Madeline Rogero highlighted for Knoxville's success

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According to a recent report from the Brookings Institute, only three major U.S. cities are currently experiencing a recovery. One of those cities, Knoxville, TN, has seen a steady recovery under Local Leaders Council Advisory Board Member Mayor Madeline Rogero.

Retailers moving into old downtown buildings, an abundance of freshly planted greenspaces, and a stream of new jobs in Knoxville, Tennessee, are all signs to Mayor Madeline Rogero that for the last year prosperity has been blooming in her city.

“We feel very good about how we’re coming out of this recession,” Rogero said. “We see new interest. We see new development that’s occurring. We’re optimistic that this recovery is going to continue.”

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Rogero has only been in office for a year. But she remembers, as a resident and as director of the city’s community development office, when the recession hit. Sales tax revenues fell. The building inspections department that had always funded itself from fees had to tap the city budget.

“People were losing their jobs. People were losing their homes,” she said.

Nonetheless, the city continued investing in infrastructure and fostering private investment, often using funds from the 2009 federal stimulus plan. The goals were to attract businesses and to keep people working on construction jobs such as a housing project for the elderly.

Smart Growth America is proud to be working with Mayor Rogero as Knoxville continues to thrive.

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The seven most innovative development projects – and policies – in the country

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The BLVD in Lancaster, California is one of seven communities being honored this year by the EPA. Photo by Charlie Essers via Flickr.

What do a boulevard in California, a Denver neighborhood, new zoning ordinances in Virginia and an organic food co-op in Vermont all have in common?

They are all being honored with the 2012 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Office of Sustainable Communities. The seven winning communities – including four winners and three honorable mentions – were announced this morning.

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